NUS Study Loan

The NUS Study Loan is tenable for the entire undergraduate degree programme duration.

Please note that if your tuition fee is already covered by a scholarship/NUS Bursary/MENDAKI TTFS/ Higher Education Community Bursary, the NUS Study Loan (tuition fee portion) will not be applicable. For Medicine/Dentistry students, the Higher Education Community/Higher Education Bursary will be used to offset your tuition fee first (before the NUS Study Loan (tuition fee portion)).

Based on the assessed level of neediness, an eligible applicant will be offered one or more of the following types of loan:

NUS Study Loan to be awarded a) Loan which covers 10%/20% of the subsidised tuition fee payable by Singapore Citizens; or 
b) Loan which covers 10%/20% of the subsidised tuition fee payable by Singapore Citizens plus up to $3,600 living allowance per annum		 a) Loan which covers up to $3,600 living allowance per annum
Requirement Tuition Fee Loan and/or CPF Education Loan Scheme and/or MENDAKI Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy which covers at least 80%/90% of the subsidised tuition fee payable by Singapore Citizens  In receipt of scholarship or other schemes which cover only 100% of the subsidised tuition fee payable (without living allowance)
Interest bearing / Interest free Interest bearing (interest will start after graduation at the average prime rate of DBS, OCBC and UOB) 
An interest free loan may be offered to very needy Singapore Citizen or SPR students
Repayment Up to 20 years for interest bearing loan and up to 5 years for interest free loan

Who is eligible?

All undergraduates who are under the MOE Tuition Grant Scheme and full fee paying Singapore Citizens and SPRs are eligible for the NUS Study Loan, if assessed to be eligible and not receiving full coverage of tuition fees and/or living expenses from a scholarship or sponsorship scheme.

The eligibility assessment is mainly based on the monthly household per capita income* of ≤$2,700 and ≤$1,200 for Singapore Citizens/SPR and international undergraduates paying subsidized fees respectively and if the applicant is holding other awards that cover the same expenses.

Full fee paying international undergraduates are not eligible except for those who have used up their MOE Tuition Grant subsidy and have taken up the NUS Study Loan before they are charged the full tuition fee rate.

5th Year undergraduate students taking Double-Degree Programmes (Percentage of coverage is based on the subsidised tuition fee rate portion only).

Undergraduate students reading the iBLOC course and Special Term course (only tuition fee portion is applicable).

Part-time undergraduates who satisfy the following criteria:

  • Must be a Singapore Citizen;
  • Pursuing the first undergraduate degree of study
  • Depending on the assessed level of neediness.

Part-time undergraduates who are eligible to apply for the NUS Study Loan will not be offered the living allowance loan.

Note: Undergraduates who are reading the Concurrent Degree Programmes are not eligible for the loan once they are charged graduate tuition fee.

Repayment

Repayment commences 6 months after graduation.

Repayment can be in one lump sum or in fixed equal monthly installments (minimum of $100 per month). The maximum repayment period is up to 5 years for interest free loans and up to 20 years for interest bearing loans. Interest computation for interest bearing loans is deferred until after graduation based on the average prime rate of DBS, OCBC and UOB.

Students may use their PSEA balance for the repayment of their loan after they have graduated. To apply and find out more about the scheme, please click here. Please note that the application form should be submitted to MOE directly.

Guarantor Requirement

A guarantor is required. He or she must be between 21 and 60 years old and is not a bankrupt. Only Singapore Citizen guarantors are acceptable for Singapore Citizen students; Singaporean/SPR guarantors are acceptable for SPR students and Singaporean/SPR/non-Singaporean guarantors are acceptable for international students

Application

To be considered for the NUS Study Loan, you are required to apply for Financial Aid here.

Existing NUS Study Loan recipients who have changed their degree programme and are charged new tuition fee amounts are required to inform OCBC of their change in degree programme so that the bank may update their information accordingly.

Undergraduates who have transferred from other local universities and had taken up the Study Loan for their previous degree programme are required to submit a new application if they are interested to apply for the NUS Study Loan to cover their undergraduate degree programme in NUS.

Execution of Loan in Singapore

For the execution of the NUS Study Loan in Singapore, applicants and their guarantors are required to call personally at any OCBC branches excluding all FRANK stores (except OCBC FRANK Store located at NUS) in Singapore with the completed NUS Study Loan Agreement, the original and copies of their identity cards/passports and NUS Student Card. Please note that your loan application will be rejected if clear, printed photocopies of the required documents are not provided. Please note that the Digital NRIC (obtained from SingPass) will not be accepted. More information can be found in the Letter of Eligibility which will be sent to eligible students.

Loan Signing at OCBC FRANK Store located at NUS
Date: 1 July 2023 – 30 September 2023
Operating Hours: 11:00 am to 7:00 pm (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Public Holidays)

Execution of Loan for Guarantors Signing Overseas

If the applicant’s guarantor is not in Singapore, the applicant’s guarantor can sign their portion of the NUS Study Loan Agreement overseas in the presence of a Notary Public#. If the Notary Public seal is NOT in English, a translated document is required to translate the seal into English.

Please note that your loan application will be rejected if the following are not adhered to:

  • The guarantor is required to sign the loan agreement in the presence of a Notary Public
    • Section II (page 8)
    • Particular’s Form (page 9)
    • Declaration by Guarantor section (page 10)
    • Bottom of every page
    • The Notary Public has to sign/seal beside every signature
  • Amendments to the loan agreement should be done in the presence of a Notary Public. The Notary Public has to sign/seal beside each amendment.
  • Photocopies of original documents* should be signed/sealed by the Notary Public. Printed photocopies of documents provided should be clear.
  • Applicants are required to provide a Singapore address to OCBC upon arrival in Singapore.

Once the Loan Agreement has been signed, the guarantor will have to mail the executed Loan Agreement to the applicant together with copies of his/her identification documents that was signed/sealed by Notary Public using a traceable mode of delivery. 

After receiving the Loan Agreement and identification documents, the applicant can proceed to any OCBC branches (excluding FRANK Stores) in Singapore to sign his/her portion of the Loan Agreement. More information can be found in the Letter of Eligibility which will be sent to eligible students.

Execution of Loan for Applicants and Guarantors Signing Overseas

If both the applicant and his/her guarantor are not in Singapore, they will both have to sign the NUS Study Loan Agreement overseas in the presence of a Notary Public#. If the Notary Public seal is NOT in English, a translated document is required to translate the seal into English.

Please note that your loan application will be rejected if the following are not adhered to:

  • The borrower is required to sign loan agreement in the presence of a Notary Public
    • Under the section I (page 8)
    • Particular’s Form (page 9)
    • Declaration by Borrower section (page 10)
    • Bottom of every page
    • The Notary Public has to sign/seal beside every signature.
  • The guarantor is required to sign the loan agreement in the presence of a Notary Public
    • Section II (page 8)
    • Particular’s Form (page 9)
    • Declaration by Guarantor section (page 10)
    • Bottom of every page
    • The Notary Public has to sign/seal beside every signature.
  • Amendments to the loan agreement should be done in the presence of a Notary Public. The Notary Public has to sign/seal beside each amendment.
  • Photocopies of original documents* should be signed/sealed by the Notary Public. Printed photocopies of documents provided should be clear.
  • Applicants are required to provide a Singapore address to OCBC upon arrival in Singapore.

Once the applicant and his/her guarantor have signed the Loan Agreement, the applicant will then have to mail the Loan Agreement and Notary Public seals to OCBC Singapore using a traceable mode of delivery at the following address:

Consumer Loan Operations  (TC2)
31 Tampines Avenue 4
#01-01/03 OCBC Tampines Centre Two
Singapore 529680
Attention: Person-in-charge, Secured Loan Non-Mortgage

# Notary Public: An official who is authorized by federal or local government to attest and certify certain documents by his or her hand and official seal. Some lawyers are appointed as Notary Publics by their governments. ONLY lawyers appointed as Notary Publics are acceptable as witness for the guarantor signing of the NUS Study Loan agreement.

Disbursement of Funds

Upon satisfactory compliance of all terms and conditions of the financial aid offer, the loan funds will be credited to the student's account by the Office of Finance twice yearly in half around September and February each year. All fees due to the University will however be deducted from such proceeds prior to crediting.

* Monthly household per capita income refers to the total gross monthly income of all those living in the household divided by the number of people in the household.